Julian Williams
1953-05-20 2011-07-06
Dr. Julian M. Williams
Julian Marshall Williams, 58, a pioneer in broadcast communications, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on July 6, 2011 after minor surgery. A native of Savannah, Williams was a veteran television reporter and a highly respected professor of Mass Communications. He split his time between Gainesville, Florida and Orangeburg, South Carolina where he taught at Claflin University.
Williams was a 1971 graduate of Savannah’s Sol C. Johnson High School, where he was elected student body president during 1969-70, the school’s first year of integration. After graduation, Williams attended Boston University, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications.
He returned to Savannah in 1975, beginning his career working for the radio station at Savannah State College. Soon afterward, he moved to WSAV-TV, holding positions as technical director, news reporter and sports reporter, before becoming Savannah’s first African-American news anchor. He subsequently held prominent positions at WCIV-TV in Charleston, SC, WSOK Radio in Savannah, and WJWJ-TV in Beaufort SC.
Williams enrolled in the graduate program at the University of Florida, where he obtained a Master’s Degree in Mass Communications. An outstanding student, he was offered a teaching position on the faculty after graduation. While there, he met and married Karlene Kerr Williams. They were blessed with two daughters, Michelle and Nicole.
In the late 1990s, Williams took leave from the University of Florida to attend Indiana University, where he earned a Ph.D. in Mass Communications with an emphasis on International Communications. He returned to the University of Florida in 1997 to resume his teaching there, earning a “Teacher of the Year” designation from the students of the program in 2005.
In 2007, Dr. Williams joined the faculty at Claflin University in Orangeburg, SC, serving as one of the key professors in the Department of Mass Communications. A popular professor among his students, Williams was particularly known for his ability to blend his knowledge of technical details of mass media with practical examples from his real-life experience in the industry, and his insight into the implications of social and historical context. He was one of the nation’s experts on the media during the civil rights era, having written illuminating articles about the experience of TV and radio stations and photographers in Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina during the 1950s and 1960s. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Journalism Historians Association in 2007, became a member of the Editorial Board of American Journalism in 2008, and in recent years gave presentations across the U.S. at conferences.
Julian Marshall Williams, 58, a pioneer in broadcast communications, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on July 6, 2011 after minor surgery. A native of Savannah, Williams was a veteran television reporter and a highly respected professor of Mass Communications. He split his time between Gainesville, Florida and Orangeburg, South Carolina where he taught at Claflin University.
Williams was a 1971 graduate of Savannah’s Sol C. Johnson High School, where he was elected student body president during 1969-70, the school’s first year of integration. After graduation, Williams attended Boston University, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications.
He returned to Savannah in 1975, beginning his career working for the radio station at Savannah State College. Soon afterward, he moved to WSAV-TV, holding positions as technical director, news reporter and sports reporter, before becoming Savannah’s first African-American news anchor. He subsequently held prominent positions at WCIV-TV in Charleston, SC, WSOK Radio in Savannah, and WJWJ-TV in Beaufort SC.
Williams enrolled in the graduate program at the University of Florida, where he obtained a Master’s Degree in Mass Communications. An outstanding student, he was offered a teaching position on the faculty after graduation. While there, he met and married Karlene Kerr Williams. They were blessed with two daughters, Michelle and Nicole.
In the late 1990s, Williams took leave from the University of Florida to attend Indiana University, where he earned a Ph.D. in Mass Communications with an emphasis on International Communications. He returned to the University of Florida in 1997 to resume his teaching there, earning a “Teacher of the Year” designation from the students of the program in 2005.
In 2007, Dr. Williams joined the faculty at Claflin University in Orangeburg, SC, serving as one of the key professors in the Department of Mass Communications. A popular professor among his students, Williams was particularly known for his ability to blend his knowledge of technical details of mass media with practical examples from his real-life experience in the industry, and his insight into the implications of social and historical context. He was one of the nation’s experts on the media during the civil rights era, having written illuminating articles about the experience of TV and radio stations and photographers in Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina during the 1950s and 1960s. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Journalism Historians Association in 2007, became a member of the Editorial Board of American Journalism in 2008, and in recent years gave presentations across the U.S. at conferences.